"So ... What exactly is Titus' job?"
Anya put, or rather threw, a small pile of clothes on the bed, next to Cassie who was still sitting on the mattress.
"What now?"
"Titus. The bald guy. What's his job here?"
Anya straightened up, not even giving her a look as she adjusted her belt.
"He's the Fleimkepa."
Cassie grabbed the clothes and examined them in silence. A grayish tunic, brown pants and a dark jacket. The young woman glanced at her dirty jeans and sweater.
"What's a 'Fleimkepa'? Oh, wait, I know. He's the keeper of something. Of a flame?"
Anya gave her a brief look.
"You're right."
"What's a flame?"
"It's what build the Commander. It's how the former Commanders choose their successor."
Cassie glanced at her to see if she was joking, but Anya looked perfectly serious. Much like the Grounders who hadn't really understood how the Ark worked, Cassie guessed that this would be a new thing that she wouldn't understand in the customs of the Grounders. Nevertheless, she made a point of respecting it.
"Alright. And what does Titus do?"
"He's in charge of the Ascension of the Commanders. And he's the Commander's closest advisor."
"He has a broom up his ass."
Anya turned to her and Cassie looked back at her.
"He's stuck. Strict."
Anya gave a weird smirk that sounded like a chuckle.
"Tell me about it."
"I don't like him."
"Me neither," Anya admitted.
"Then, why do you let him near your Commander?"
Anya gave her another look.
"I mean, she seems to be your friend, right? And she was your second. So how can you let this bad guy influence her?"
"It is not in my power to relieve Titus of his duties. In fact, it is not in the power of Heda either. Titus is the only one who knows how the Fleim works."
Cassie shrugged thoughtfully.
She unfolded the clothes, before getting up, stretching her hands out in front of Anya.
"Unless you want to dress me yourself, you should remove my handcuffs."
Anya rolled her eyes but still loosened the ties around her wrists. Cassie rubbed her sore skin. She glanced again in the direction of her jailer, who remained motionless.
"Can you turn around while I change?"
Anya raised an eyebrow.
"Turning my back to you, hands loose as we are almost at the top of the tower? No."
Cassie shrugged.
"Alright then. But you better not take a peek."
The young woman took off her shoes, then her jeans and put on the pants. She took off her sweater, put her tunic over her t-shirt, then her jacket and put her shoes back on before sitting up, satisfied. She had never felt more Grounder.
Anya took her wrists again and tied the rope there again. Cassie let her do it, shaking her head to throw her hair back.
"Do I look good?" Asked the young woman.
Anya gave her a brief dark look.
"Of course I look good. I look fantastic. I could pull anyone."
Anya rolled her eyes then pulled her with her out of the room.
The council was standing in a room lit by a large window closed with a half-torn curtain. A long table was placed in the middle, furnished with many chairs. At the far end, a larger seat presided over the table and the Commander was seated there. Anya sat to her right, pulling Cassie until she came to a stand behind her. The young woman obeyed in silence.
Many of the generals sat down across the table, facing each other, until everyone was seated. A dark-skinned, hard-eyed woman was across from Anya, staring coldly at Cassie. The young woman decided to ignore her royally, observing instead the profile of Anya's face whose silhouette she could guess behind her golden hair.
The Commander rose from her seat and gazed at the assembly with a long gaze.
"We got together today based on new information we learned yesterday. Onya has captured a prisoner, a woman who comes from the sky."
All eyes turned to the young woman who applied herself to ignore them all, keeping her gaze fixed on the silhouette of Anya's profile.
The Commander turned to Anya, who straightened up.
"I saw what she calls a pod come down from the sky and crash to the ground. This Skaigada was inside."
A large man, sitting next to the dark-eyed woman, smirked.
"In yu don dula noun frag em op."
Cassie knew he was talking about her, and the words 'frag em op' had already been used in front of her. She guessed that he was wondering why Anya hadn't killed her.
Anya regarded the Grounder in silence. Her expression was marble, but Cassie detected contempt on her face.
"I thought she might have had some important information about the people of the Sky. And I was right. She does."
"Why being interested in those vermin? In our entire life, we have never cared for people in the Sky, and their corpses have never been useful to us.
"Well, it's the first time we find one alive," Anya replied. "And we can learn more about their people and the threat they could represent to us."
A murmur traveled the table, under the marble gaze of the Commander.
"So they decided to come fight us?" The man continued. "Let them come! We will show them what kind of fire we get!"
"They might be like the Mountain Men," the Commander replied.
Another murmur swept through the assembly. Cassie looked around, confused. She didn't know what the Commander was talking about.
"Which is why we should kill her before she tells her people to come down from the sky," insisted the Grounder.
This time, voices were raised in earnest, agreeing with him. Anya clenched her jaw, muscles tight. Cassie remained uninterested.
"You will not kill her," Anya growled.
"Why? You're afraid of loosing your little whore?" The man chuckled.
Anya clenched her fist, her jaw tightened.
"Funny," Cassie crooned.
They all turned to her. She raised an eyebrow.
"That's not what your wife said last night."
Anya bit her lip, trying to suppress a laugh. An amused spark danced in the Commander's gaze. Cassie turned to said Grounder's wife, sitting to his left, and winked at her. The woman looked down to her knees.
The Commander spoke again.
"She cannot communicate with her people."
She turned to Cassie, nodding her head.
"I don't think they will come," the young woman announced. "Technically, they still think that the Ground needs a hundred years before it is survivable again."
A long silence followed her statement.
"Tell them what you told us, Cassie kow Skaikru," ordered the Commander.
En yu don dula noun frag em op: And you didn't kill her.